AEW Rampage Review - June 2, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo def. Dralistico and Komander in a Three-Way Match

Vikingo and Komander killed it when they went one-on-one back at Supercard of Honor, so unsurprisingly, this was equally chaotic and entertaining. The action was all over the place and it was a lot of fun to follow. It didn't matter who won, but I didn't think the AAA Mega title would change hands on an AEW show. All three worked wonderfully together and the live crowd had a blast with it as well.

NJPW World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr. def. Action Andretti

Sabre has been putting together a string of really good matches over on ROH TV, so I'm glad those who don't watch ROH TV got to see him in action here. Hopefully he competes at Forbidden Door again this year. Andretti was hardly a threat to his title, but this was the very well-wrestled match you'd expect from them. It was a cool clash of styles, but then again, Sabre can have a quality match with just about anyone.

NJPW Strong Women's Champion Willow Nightingale def. Emi Sakura

It's awesome Nightingale was able to defend her newly-won title on an AEW program. That gives me hope that she'll continue to appear consistently on AEW shows going forward. I mean, it'd be a crime for her not to with Collision starting up in two weeks. Sakura didn't have a chance of winning, but she always delivers and at least she's a name AEW fans are familiar with. This was solid stuff in the time allotted.

ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata def. Lee Moriarty in a Pure Rules Match

Pure Rules matches aren't always the most exciting, but they're perfect for Shibata's style, especially when he's in there with an opponent as skilled Moriarty. The crowd was noticeably quieter for this than they were the other three matches, but it was a thumbs-up main event, nonetheless. We haven't had much Ring of Honor representation on AEW TV this year, but I'm fine with the brand getting the occasional exposure on Rampage if it means getting more matches like this.

Overall Show

It was funny how this was billed as a "Championship Friday" edition of Rampage when the Battle of the Belts specials still exist each quarter, further rendering those irrelevant. That said, this was an above-average edition of Rampage. All four matches were quite enjoyable, making this the strongest show Rampage has produced in some time. Granted, no AEW titles were defended, but it was an eventful night from an in-ring standpoint.

SEE MORE: Rampage Reviews